I’m a College Student and Gotten Myself in Very Bad Credit Card Debt. – Meredith

By Steve Rhode
Ask me your question.

Meredith wrote to me through the GetOutOfDebt.org site and asked the following question. If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free.

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“Dear Steve,

I am a college student and gotten myself in very bad credit card debt. It is so easy to get a card and I have managed to run up a debt close to $10,000. I had three credit cards; I have gotten rid of them, can’t use them, but still owe the debt.

How do I get rid of this debt?

Meredith”

Dear Meredith,

I hate to state the obvious but the way to get rid of debt is to pay it off.

When you apply for a credit card you are entering a legal agreement with the lender. You agree to be responsible for making the payments, as you agree, in return for access to a certain credit limit. If you don’t pay, there are consequences.

There are all sorts of underlying issues why people get in over their head, not just college students. I could go on about the emotional issues for overspending, unfairness of targeting college students, tendency to issue credit to young adults to hook them, etc. But why?

We understand that when we get a license to drive that we need to operate the car responsibly. We own sharp knives without stabbing each other, but it almost seems at times that the concept of being responsible for repaying borrowed money is not that obvious to some.

If you are a long time reader of this site you will note that I often suggest or recommend bankruptcy as a solution to difficult financial situations. Typically I reserve that suggestion only for those people that have found themselves in such a bad spot or without a reasonable ability to repay their debts.

That might be the spot you are in now but honestly the credit card debt is the least of your worries. Student loan debt is far more oppressive and you can be in terrible trouble if you fail to make those payments.

Your solution to eliminating your credit card debt is going to require that you pay more than the minimums in some sort of coordinated approach like the debt snowball pay off plan. If you don’t feel you have the structure and discipline to implement a plan to get out of debt then think about enrolling in a debt management plan. Click here for debt management information. In a debt management plan you will make one monthly payment to the debt management agency, they will divide it up and send it to your creditors for you. They may even be able to get your interest rates reduced for you.

Try all the ideas above before you turn to bankruptcy. Make an effort first to repay if you can and if it is just too much for you to manage then schedule and free bankruptcy consultation with a bankruptcy attorney and discuss your options.

Big hug.

@GetOutOfDebtGuy

Source: I’m a College Student and Gotten Myself in Very Bad Credit Card Debt. – Meredith

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